Q1: What are the works regarded as high exertion?

For examples: most construction/tunnelling work involving frequent bending and heavy lifting, operating an impacting drill on a concrete wall, sanding over a ceiling, etc.

Q2: Why aren’t paper masks or non-powered respirators sufficient for high-exertion work?

A: They rely on a tight seal to the face, which is hard to maintain during high-exertion tasks. They are also harder to breathe than powered respirators, especially when dust is loaded.

Q3: Why isn’t fit testing for non-powered respirators effective to ensure a good fit during high-exertion work?

A: Fit testing ensures a proper seal only in a controlled environment, such as in an office. However, even if having a good fit in the test, physical strain during heavy work causes sweating, facial shifts, and frequent head movements, which can shift the mask fit and make a good fit into a bad fit. Workers can’t readjust masks mid-task (e.g., while handling tools, or needing focus on complex or risky job), leading to gaps and rendering protection ineffective.
Relying on fit testing for good protection during high-exertion work is in reality just an act of Self-comfort or Self-deception.

Q4: Why are beards a problem for non-powered respirators?

A: Facial hair prevents a secure seal, allowing contaminants to bypass the mask. Clean-shaven is required, but not always practical, e.g. due to strong personal preference or religion, stubble grows mid-day or late in a shift.

Q5: Why choose a loose-fitting PAPR instead?

A: Loose-fitting PAPRs don’t require a tight seal to work, the protection is ensured via positive pressure in the breathing zone.

They tolerate mask shifting during movement, no need for fit testing and adjustments, letting workers focus – ideal for high-exertion work or workers with beards.

They reduce breathing effort compared with a non-powered respirator, thus can improve comfort.

They also provide fresh airflow – reduces heat buildup and fogging.

Q6: Do Loose-fitting PAPRs provide better protection than well-fitted non-powered respirators?

A: Yes. Most certified loose-fitting PAPRs can provide at least 5 times better protection for a bearded worker than a well-fitting nonpowered respirator for a clean-shaven worker.

Q7: What type of Loose-fitting PAPRs are most suitable for High-Exertion work?

A: PAPRs that hinder the work: belt-mounted PAPRs with hoses, helmet mounted PAPRs (top heavy).

Around-neck Loose-fitting PAPRs are most suitable, as they offer best mobility, can be worn like a non-powered respirator, such as Aimwell® AYO™ WX FFM-LF Loose-Fitting Full-Face PAPR System.

Conclusion: For High-Exertion tough jobs, Loose-fitting PAPRs ensure safety, comfort, and focus. Non-powered masks risk failure when it matters most. Around-neck Loose-Fitting PAPRs are most suitable among all types of loose-fitting PAPRs.

Related reading

• PAPR Types: Four Ways to Wear a Powered Respirator
• Case Study – Running Cost Comparison Between a NAPR and an AYO WX HFM P-Boost
• Aimwell AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System – The Dust Protection King

Common Requirement on Facial Air

Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) for beards

The Question here refers to respiratory protection when wearing a mask or a respirator.

Here, the ‘respirator’ can be categorized as an Air Purifying Respirator (APR) and a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR).

Within PAPRs, we have Tight-Fitting PAPRs and Loose-Fitting PAPRs.

Here, ‘tight-fitting’ means a tight facial seal between the respirator and the skin as intended by design to prevent leaks; and ‘loose-fitting’ means a partial seal between the respirator and the skin as intended by design to relax the fitting allowing some leaks.

Typical tight-fitting respirators involve an elastomeric facial cushion, and typical loose-fitting respirators involve a helmet, a visor, or a hood. Where the blower and hose sit changes the picture again — we compare the four main types of PAPR separately.

Except for Loose-fitting PAPRs, clean-shaven is the common requirement for wearing a tight-fitting respirator, especially a paper mask or an APR.

Loose-fitting PAPRs are suitable for bearded people, or are they?

Loose-fitting PAPRs are designed not to rely on a tight seal to ensure protection, instead, they rely on positive pressure generated by the PAPR in the breathing zone to block outside contaminants from getting through the gaps in the loose-fitting partial seal while the PAPR sucks air via a filter.

To get it to work properly, the blower needs to produce all the flow for the wearer to breathe, and yes, if the PAPR can achieve it, it is indeed suitable for the bearded wearer or the wearer with facial hair.

However, there may be a danger of misconception here that loose-fitting PAPRs are suitable for bearded wearers without considering the limitations. The fact is that the suitability is highly conditional and can be affected by several factors for a given application, such as:

• How long is the facial hair and where is it located?
• How powerful is the loose-fitting PAPR being used?
• How is the airflow controlled? Will the flow get less when the built-in battery level is low?
• How heavy is the physical work demanding on your breathing?
• How dense are the contaminants?
• What is the maximum exposure limit for the contaminants?

Most of these factors are related to the single most essential characteristic of PAPRs: Positive Pressure in the mask/breathing zone. As long as positive pressure is maintained all the time, there will be no leak issue from facial hair, as the air tends to be pushed out of the mask instead of being sucked in.

In a theoretical scenario, as long as the airflow generated from the blower in the PAPR is not less than the inhaled flow, positive pressure can be maintained. But in practice, for loose-fitting helmets, visors, or hoods, the leak paths can vary so that not all the flow from the blower can reach the breathing zone. Some may well leak out before reaching the breathing zone.

Therefore, the PAPR needs to be designed in such a way that it generates a flow more than what the wearer can breathe plus the flow leaked over the loose-fitting interface.

How much air can be generated from the PAPR is a matter of the blowing power of the PAPR; whereas, how much air you inhale depends on how hard you need to breathe to do your job.

The reality is that the maximum flow a PAPR can generate is limited and will also be reduced from its peak when the battery level becomes lower after a certain time of use.

Also, most loose-fitting PAPRs deliver constant flow. When the flow rate is high, so will the battery capacity, making the battery larger and heavier, and this will affect wearability and cost.

On the other hand, if your job is highly physical and causes heavy breathing, your inhaled air could outrun what the blower can deliver.

The other important factor to consider is the protection factor requirement of the PAPR for doing certain work. The concentration of the contaminants and the maximum exposure limit will determine the minimum protection factor of the PAPR. Typically, loose-fitting PAPRs have a lower protection factor than tight-fitting PAPRs. When the contaminant exposure limit demands a PAPR with a high protection factor, loose-fitting PAPRs may not be suitable, regardless of whether you have a beard or not. Welding fume is a recent example: Australia’s welding fume exposure standard is now 1 mg/m³, down from 5 mg/m³.

So to make sure a given loose-fitting PAPR is suitable for any given application, especially for a bearded person, a careful assessment is needed case-by-case.  

Can Tight-fitting PAPRs be used for bearded people?

When the flow capacity of the blower, the filter used, and the system leak are equal, tight-fitting PAPRs generally have a higher protection factor than loose-fitting PAPRs.

This is because during a negative pressure condition, when the inhaled air outruns the air delivered from the blower, a tight-fitting mask will let in much less outside air compared with a partially sealed loose-fitting covering.

Typically, a tight-fitting mask is made of soft silicone rubber that contacts the front of the face, and it is elastic enough to adapt to the contour of the face to achieve a good seal. In contrast, a loose-fitting covering typically uses elasticized fabric at the contact interface, and it may cover a much larger area, such as the head, the face, and the neck, than only the front of the face.

Now, if the beard is short enough such that the silicone cushion from the tight-fitting PAPR can still achieve a better seal than loose-fitting PAPRs, there is no reason why the tight-fitting PAPR can’t work as effectively, if not better than a loose-fitting PAPR, given the loose-fitting covering has more leaks.

As an example, AYO WX HFM Standard Half-Face Mask PAPR System, which has a well-designed silicone facial cushion, was tested on a light-beard person achieving an average PortaCount fit factor over 2000 when powered on, similar to a clean-shave person under the same test conditions and far better than a non-powered respirator of typically only between 100 to 500. The key reasons AYO WX PAPR can achieve this are due to its powerful peak flow of over 200 L/min, which is similar to most loose-fitting PAPRs, and also due to its positive pressure ensured by the responsive flow control that can quickly accelerate the blower output anytime when the inhalation increases.

So to answer the question, yes, a tight-fitting PAPR can be used with a light-beard person similarly to a loose-fitting PAPR, provided the facial cushion is well designed, the beard is reasonably short, the flow generation is powerful enough, and most importantly, the ability to ensure positive pressure inside the mask.

Having said that, the EU highest class TH3 for loose-fitting is not ideal for work conditions that require a minimum protection factor of 1000 with heavy breathing, as once the breathing outruns the blower, negative pressure will be created in the breathing zone, causing leaks to contaminants. In this situation, a tight-fitting PAPR is more appropriate, and loose-fitting PAPRs are normally limited to light to moderate workloads for a protection factor of up to 500.

In Summary, here are our recommendations for bearded people

• You must be clean-shaven when you wear a negative-pressure respirator.
• You should be clean-shaven whenever you can, even if you wear a PAPR.
• If you insist on keeping your beard, you must use a PAPR and make sure:
  • Trim your beard to a minimum.
  • Use for work with light to moderate exertion.
  • Charge the battery in full before using the PAPR.
  • Avoid using blocked filters – change filters frequently.
  • Try to use a PAPR that can produce more air.
  • Try to use a PAPR with a minimum leak path and an elastomeric mask cushion.
  • Try to use a PAPR with powerful and intelligent breath-responsive flow control like an Aimwell® AYO™ WX.

If the beard stays, the direct route is a facepiece that never seals against skin: the AYO WX FFM-LF loose-fitting full-face PAPR, which needs no clean shave and no fit test.

Choosing the respirator is only half of it. The employer still carries the training, fit testing and record-keeping duties: see PAPR training requirements for Australian employers.

Related reading

• Can Facepieces be Loose-fitting?
• Is Fit Testing for Respirators a Flawed Practice?
• How Does Aimwell™ AYO™ WX FFM-LF P-Boost Full-Face Mask PAPR System Compare with Other Full-Face PAPR Brands?